The Scarlet Child
by AnimeGamerGirl33
Summary: A recreation of The Scarlet Ibis with Ryou and Bakura. Sad, cried when I wrote it a couple years ago. Bakura and Ryou are brothers here and Bakura is really off in character but it works for the story. My first story on ff, so please be nice. NO FLAMES PLEASE.


**"The Scarlet Child"**

adapted from "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst  
characters from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" by Kazuki Takashi

-Well I actually wrote this story a very long time ago, but I think I fixed most errors. And I took only the very first paragraph from The Scarlet Ibis word for word. I dont own that bit and I dont own the characters used.-

**It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born. The ironweeds grew rank in the flower bed, and the beautiful smell of the graveyard flowers drifted through the entire house while softly speaking the names of our dead and beloved. The birds are chirping delicately in the branches of the elm outside the window, although their songs were drown out by the sweet dying winds. The grindstone stands where the bleeding tree once stood, destroying time as it seemingly passes by. It's strange I can remember everything so clearly, since that time has been removed from life long ago.**

**It was mid summer, when I met the sweetest kid you'd ever know. Ryou was very kind, but weak since birth. In fact, everyone believed that he was to die at birth. But he didn't die.**

**It was only two years later that Ryou learned to talk, but rarely did, for he was very timid and weary. Although, when he learned to walk very late that same year, he went everywhere with me, clinging to my shirt and watching everything intently. Eventually Ryou became less timid and talked more, but only to me and people who seemed very kind, and still clung to me for safety and comfort.**

**Soon I started to become tired of this though. I found it a bit embarrassing for a little boy to cling to me all the time, so I tried to scare him away or tease him till he ran off, but he never left my side. This only annoyed me more, so I decided I was going to teach him to be brave.**

**At first I couldn't even get Ryou to come into view of the woods. He thought it was full of monsters, but that might have been my fault. Earlier that week I had told him that I would drag him into the woods and let the monsters eat him if he didn't leave me alone. So I had to wait for teaching him to climb trees till next summer, instead I took him to Sweet's Field.**

**Ryou loved Sweet's Field and wanted to lay in the soft grass for hours on end. That, though, made me smile. It wasn't hard to make Ryou smile, but this was a smile of pure delight and love. I had never seen him have such a smile. So I took him there often, and we explored the tall grasses and found a few small trees which I taught Ryou to climb and swing on. If it was hot, we'd gather wild flowers, herbs, and grasses, which we'd weave into crowns, and sometimes have enough to make a small dresses and shirts. Ryou was very good at this, and his sweet and kind demeanor just made this scene picture perfect every time.**

**That very next summer I took Ryou to the woods. He was even more timid, but completely intrigued, there. All of the owls hooting from hollow trees, snakes slithering everywhere, and insects jumping on us from every which way. Ryou absolutely did not let go of me then, I couldn't even swim in the river without him trying to cling to me. But I couldn't teach him to swim just yet, not until he could run a mile in at most an hour, because the current was strong and could easily pull him away if he got caught in it.**

**Ryou only liked going to the woods if he could sit in an area of tall soft grass and watch me swim or climb trees. When he watched me I couldn't help thinking that he was trying to learn whatever I was doing by watching, I only hoped that he wouldn't try to sneak away and practice alone. So I decided it was time he should run the mile, which I would run with him of course.**

**After a good two months Ryou was barely making it. He could run a mile in an hour, but only five to ten seconds before time was up. I could tell he really wanted to do everything I did even though he wasn't supposed to do any of what I do, since it would strain his body and possibly kill him if the training was too vigorous. But Ryou didn't seem to care, he was determined to do everything I put in front of him.**

**Another month passed, and Ryou was running the mile a lot better, leaving about ten minutes before time was up. So I was ready to teach him to swim.**

**As exhausted as he was, Ryou never gave up trying to swim. He even almost drowned a few times. Of course that scared him a lot, but after a week he would be ready to try again.**

**Again and again, Ryou tried to swim and eventually learned at age six. By this time, he could also climb trees up to where vines hung, wrapped around the branches. We would unwind the vines and let them stretch closer to the ground, where we would then swing around and act like gorillas and monkeys.**

**Three more years passed, and Ryou was almost completely "normal." He was still timid and cautious, and clung to me, but not as much as he had the years before.**

**Late in a summer not long after Ryou's tenth birthday, a huge storm hit the fields and the woods. Trees in the woods were smashed and singed, and toppled and ripped from the ground. Grasses and flowers were torn from the soft dirt of the fields and blown through the woods into the river.**

**Ryou was devastated to see his beloved Sweet's Field torn to shreds and muddied. He cried for a while, sitting on a toppled gum tree. Then he looked at me and told me that he would replant everything back the way it should be the best he could. Then we saw the woods and that unfortunately restrengthened Ryou's vow even more.**

**The next few days after the storm were terrible for Ryou, it rained constantly and all he wanted to do was replant the field and woods. And everyday he moped around waiting for the rain to cease. I tried everything to cheer him up, and it worked a little, but not enough.**

**Then one day the rain finally stopped long enough to go play outside. It was very sunny and warm, and the birds were singing in the branches again. Then their was a loud unnatural sounding croak, making all of the birds flutter away loudly and uncoordinated. We ran outside to see a very large scarlet feathered bird. Ryou seemed fascinated by the strange bird perched unsteadily in the bleeding tree. It's wings were lose as if broken, and it's long slender beak opened and closed looking like it wanted to speak human words.**

**We quickly ran back to the house and brought back a bird book. We excitedly looked through it, watching the scarlet colored bird in the bleeding tree, then we found it! The bird was called a scarlet ibis, a bird of the tropics. Just imagine how far it traveled to get here! Just for us to watch it's beauty!**

**Suddenly, the bird croaked loudly again, startling us, then it fell to the ground with a soft thud. Even in death the scarlet ibis's beauty was not muddied. It was curled into an oval looking shape, it's long beak barely opened, and it's scarlet colored feathers still shinning brilliantly.**

**Ryou reached to touch it, probably wanting to bury it, but I stopped his hand short, telling him not to with a stern, but gentle look. He simply nodded and went to get a shovel. When he came back, he picked up the bird as gently as he could with the shovel, and I helped him carry it to the front garden, where we dug a hole big enough for the scarlet ibis and buried it.**

**After that, the rain showers picked up again the next morning. Ryou and I were back to our indoor routine. Ryou mostly complaining about wanting to go outside, and me making arrows out of wood from the floorboards of my room or my bedposts. It eventually began to be very boring and everything just became quiet, even Ryou had stopped complaining. Instead it was silence, waiting for the rain to stop and for it to be sunny again.**

**Another long boring week passed and the rain finally stopped. As soon as it did, Ryou ran outside, so fast you could barely see him. I smiled wide and followed him. This was the happiest I'd seen Ryou in a long time. He ran straight for Sweet's Field, even though he knew it was destroyed, he still loved going there.**

**When we got to Sweet's Field we were amazed to see that it had been, for the most part, restored to it's former glory. Ryou started to cry, he was so happy. And I found myself smiling as wide as I could. I couldn't help it, Ryou was just so happy that I felt the same.**

**We stayed in the field for a while and then we went down to the woods. Unfortunately it was still destroyed. No tears of joy for here, but determination was shining in Ryou's eyes. That worried me a little. It was dangerous in the woods, even when we came the times before, but it was different now. It was harder to get around, snakes and poison ivy were even more abundant, and the river was higher and rougher than ever before.**

**Suddenly, it started pouring rain. We started running back home. The rain and wind blowing right in our faces, stinging them raw. I looked at Ryou, and I could see that he was having trouble keeping up. Then we both fell and lightning began to strike. We were scared out of our minds. I got up and kept running, not realizing Ryou wasn't running with me. I tripped again and looked behind me to see if Ryou had too, but he wasn't there. My heart almost stopped, this scared me more than the storm around me. I started running back and another strike of lightning struck far in front of me. I stopped, wide eyed, in front of me was Ryou. He was curled into an awkwardly shaped ball, his neck stained with bright and fresh red blood. I was shocked, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I laid down next to him, crying heavily. I hugged him close, his blood staining my shirt, but I ignored it. I wanted to stay there with him forever. I stayed with him through the entire storm.**

**I only left him because I was forced to. After the storm, the townspeople found us. At first they didn't realize Ryou was dead, but when they pulled me away from his body, they saw. All I could do was cry and struggle to get loose of the burly man that was keeping me hostage from the only person I cared about.**

**I couldn't barely live after Ryou's funeral, and I couldn't go to Sweet's Field either, because that's where I insisted he be buried.**

**I wouldn't eat or sleep or move from where I was. All I did was sit there and cry for Ryou, only wishing he was back here with me or that I could be with him.**

**I did this for a week. I finally slept, but only because I was drugged with an IV by the town's doctor. But I was happy because in my dream was Ryou, smiling comfortingly. He told me not to worry, to live and be happy for him, and so I did.**

**I went back to Sweet's Field everyday and cared for Ryou's grave, and I still do. I don't let anyone touch it though, not even animals or plants. I don't want it to ever be disturbed by someone else, it is my responsibility, because I killed him. I was careless and left his side. It was me, but he tells me in my dreams that he doesn't blame me.**

**So I promise him every time in my dreams that I will never forget to do everything for him. He nods and watches through my eyes what I do. He is now part of me, and always will be.**


End file.
